A cult is a group of people or a movement held together by a shared commitment to a charismatic leader or ideology. The members of this movement have a great devotion to a person and strange ideologies and practices which are unorthodox and exploitative. They usually believe that answers to different life questions can only be gained by following their leader’s rules.
Cults are led by a charismatic leader who is mostly self-appointed and has excessive control of the group members. The leader will claim to know what the members are thinking and develop charismatic and charming vocabularies meant to manipulate the members of the cult into thinking they have joined a movement that will give them purpose and meaning.
The leader of this unorthodox movement offers messages resonating with people’s needs and problems with the primary intention of creating a new worldview for their members that will require new behavior and cutting off the past. The self-appointed beguiling leader will then develop all kinds of control mechanisms that form part of the rules and regulations like; how to dress, what to eat etc.
The headman of the cult chooses a few members from the group to perform important missions like recruiting a new following and acting as models for the new followers by showing them how to behave and offering transcendent teachings that state how to get to a better place by going through a transformational process dictated to you.
A lot of people are into cults and are not aware, especially cults that manifest as religion. We have outlined a few characteristics of a cult that will help you identify if you are in one:
- They don’t allow you to see the reality of life.
- You are not open to any other explanations.
- Opposing critical thinking.
- Seeking inappropriate loyalty to the cult leaders.
- Dishonoring the family unit.
- Separation from the church.
- Isolating members and penalizing them for leaving.
- Emphasizing special doctrines outside the scripture.
- Your mind is closed.
- Your new belief is your new hope.